"Extreme" Tool RUST help needed

[Donny Lawson]

Since my fire a few weeks back I have gotten the "OK" to remove clean and do whatever I need to with the contents.I do have a few tools that should be salvageable but everything is extreamly rusty from all the water. What is something I can work with to help remove this rust and see exactly what I have? I'm up for all suggestions. I don't think anything is pitted out yet but just alot of surface rust.
Thanks, Donny

[Michael Peet]

Donny, sorry to hear of your misfortune. If the rusted item is small enough to submerge in a container, Evapo-Rust works really well.

I've had luck with Boeshield Rust Free for stationary tools, but it can leave marks. I usually work it with steel wool.

You'll likely get a number of other suggestions here as well.

Good luck!

Mike

[David Weaver]

Phosphor prep and etch from home depot. It'll cost you less than a lot of other stuff. Just don't let it drip on concrete because, well, it'll etch it.

Do something mechanical before you do any of the chemical rust neutralization measures - like a ROS with beartex or whatever 3m's equivalent is. There's no reason to have to reapply chemical rust removal over and over to layers of rust that will just come off mechanically easy. It's the layer that's right on the metal that you want to neutralize with the chemicals.

I'm not aware of any neutralizer that isn't going to etch the surface of the tool and leave it a bit gray looking, but that's life. The benefit over mechanical removal only is that places where you can't get all of the rust off (corners and such), it'll still be neutralized.

[Stephen Cherry]

Before you try any chemicals, I would first spray everything down with light oil. That way the rust will be stopped.

Next, after a good oil soaking, you could take a very sharp blade from your least favorite handplane, or a maybe even a razor blade, and scrape the rust off. If the blade is sharp, it will not scratch up the metal. (The plane blade would need to be sharp enough to shave hair off of your arm, if not, use a razor blade)

After that, scotchbrite with barkeepers friend.

[Don Jarvie]

WD40, Green and Gray Scotch Brite Pads and elbow grease.

The tools were rusted from the fire so they haven't been sitting out in the open for years so drastic measures aren't necessary.

However, you may need to take them apart and clean all of the pieces and reassemble. A course and fine wire wheel in a grinder will be you new best friend.

Unless the tools were broken or crushed you may be able to salvage quite a bit.

[Michael O'Sullivan]

Do you have insurance coverage on your tools? If so, I would ask the carrier what to do.

[glenn bradley]

Insurance is expensive but when it comes to homes, it may or may not pay to claim. If you have already made a claim (and I assume you have) then the damage is done (increase in premiums). I would just get any questionable tools replaced. My homeowners covers up to $40k in garage "stuff" without question although I have pictures, receipts and all that just in case. If you are going to get bit for filing a claim, I would get my money's worth out of it.

[David Wong]

I used both Boeshield Rust Off and Evapo-Rust to clean up a rusted jointer table. (See http://lumberjocks.com/djwong/blog/10535). For the Evapo-Rust, I order a container of concentrate that you mix with water to make 5 gallons of solution. Saves on shipping costs. The Evapo-Rust worked well, but I had to build a dam around the edge of the jointer table and leave it soaking for hours. It was very messy. Before applying any rust remover, I had faster and better results if I scraped the surface with a razor blade first. That works surprisingly well on flat surfaces. I used Evapo-Rust as well to soak anything I could remove and fit in a container.